A high price is necessary to prevent military takeovers
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IT'S IRONIC when people like the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) chairman Borwornsak Uwanno say they hope this new "permanent" charter will be the last one for Thailand. After all, when there are legal experts willing to draft new charters in the wa
While there’s no shortage of educated Thais willing to support and serve coup-makers in modern history, there are some who try to maintain their democratic principles and take a stand against the current coup-makers, also known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
These opponents of the junta are not just resisting, but they are also hoping to reduce the chance of future coups by ensuring that the cost of staging a coup is high.
While those who serve the NCPO are often rewarded with fat cheques, those who resist face detention, trials in the military court or the option of fleeing. You can pay a high price for sticking to your principles.
Take well-known historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul, for instance.
A staunch critic of the draconian lese majeste law, he refused to accept the coup-makers’ legitimacy and chose to flee the Kingdom instead. Last week, he was dismissed by Thammasat University, where he has been teaching for nearly two decades, after the university administrators decided to sack him for not returning to teach. His request for a sabbatical was denied.
Incidentally, the university’s administration is led by rector Somkid Lertpaitoon, who also happens to be a member of the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly.
Somsak, who refused to answer the junta’s summonses and is also wanted for allegedly violating the lese majeste law, wrote that his chance of seeing his 90-year-old mother again are slim because he reckons the NCPO will stay in power for four or five years instead of just another year, as promised.
Sombat Boonngam-anong, Red Sunday Group leader, is another person who took a public stand against the coup-makers. He was subsequently arrested and is now facing military court – a court where one does not have the right to appeal.
To make matters worse, Sombat’s pro-bono lawyer, Anon Nampa, is now facing military court himself after he was arrested for taking part in a public gathering to commemorate the failed February 2014 elections.
On a personal note, when I was detained without charge under martial law right after the coup, I told the powers-that-be – in front of representatives from the National Human Rights Commission – that I will not sign any documents that prevents me from criticising the coup-makers.
The list of those who are resisting the junta is long, with some names more famous than others. Some have sacrificed their career, left their families behind or are standing trial for defending democracy in the hope that one day there will be no more military intervention.
But it is only when a large number of people stand together to say they have had enough, that military coups will truly become a thing of the past.
I wish I could be someone who serves coup-makers, while wishing there are no more coups – but then I would be making a mockery of myself.
